🎯 The Constant Tension Cable Hack — Why Cross-Body Raises Beat Dumbbells

Dumbbell lateral raises have a fatal flaw nobody talks about — the moment your arm hangs by your side, tension basically disappears, meaning the hardest part of the lift happens exactly when your side delt needs the least help. Cables solve this completely. Because the resistance pulls from a low, cross-body angle, your lateral deltoid stays under constant load through the entire range of motion, with zero dead spots at the bottom.

The hack shown in the image nails it perfectly: crossing the cables in front of your body and driving the handles out and up matches the deltoid's natural strength curve, delivering a deeper stretch at the bottom and a fuller, harder contraction at the top than dumbbells could ever produce. A 2025 EMG study comparing cable versus dumbbell lateral raises found the constant-tension setup let lifters load significantly heavier weight for the same rep range while keeping the muscle engaged the whole time — a real edge for pure lateral delt hypertrophy.

Just remember the golden rule: stop the raise once your upper arm is parallel to the floor — go higher and your traps start hijacking the set. Do 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps per side with a half-second pause at the top, and you'll build the kind of round, capped shoulders that fill out every t-shirt you own 💪 For a legend famous for his boulder shoulders and feats of raw strength, watch Kevin Levrone: Shoulders — Maryland Muscle, available now at Prime Cuts Bodybuilding — a hardcore shoulder session including his legendary 1,500lb leg press.